Thread: JNAT & Nagura questions/identification - help!

I got a few Ohiras myself, all to soft for razors.

Lapping is a very good idea, both to make sure it's flat and to get a fresh surface.
Oil, dust and other things in the air gets stuck on the surface and sometimes you will find the stone is very different 1/10 of a mm down.

You could do a quick test sharpening a tool or knife on it with water only to see how hard it is.
A good stone for razors should mostly not give any slurry at all, if it does you will always get fresh cutting particles and the stone will be fast but not fine.

Best would be if you have someone close to you that could take a look at it and give it a go.
Even a stone suitable for razors can take some time to master, to learn to hone with an unknown stone is not an easy way to go since you will never know if it's your honing skills or the stone to blame.

Same with the Naguras, the best way is to compare them to known good Naguras, I agree with Nikolay, looks like a Tsusima but the other I would plainly call Shiro Nagura (Shiro - White),
it's a common name for unknown white ones.

Hopefully we're not scaring you, go ahead and start to play around with it, it's the only way to learn but maybe not on your best razor.

Edit; I do use a piece of Ohira as Nagura on some very hard jnats, makes a thick and fast slurry for fixing chips in the edge, that is fast as in naturals fast, synthetics are way faster.